The Best Shotgun mic for $300-400 (ME66/AT897/other?)
 

I am ready to invest in a nice shotgun mic to improve on the crappy on board mic. I will mainly be using it for some event videography, corporate videos, documentaries and eventually a feature. I have $300-$400 to spend. I want to invest in a good mic that I wont regret getting in the future. What do you folks recommend? the ME66, the AT897, or another mic? I keep hearing some bad stuff about the ME66, but Sennheiser is Sennheiser. Please give me suggestions below....

ive seen some good mic kits go for about $1350AUD which include an k6 Module, ME66 head, Rycote softie, Rycote Pistol grip which mounts to a pole or can be hand held, Manfrotto Boompole, and 5 metres worth of cabling....

the mic can then be mounted to the cam if needed, so u have teh best of both worlds :)

If you're willing to go $400, then try to save up just a bit more (to $530) and get the Audio Technica AT4073a...

Is there a very noticable difference between the 897 and 4073a?

The 897 is an electret condensor, which is a mid-level design. The 4073 is a full-fledged condensor mic. The 4073 is in competition with the $1000-level mic's like the MKH416 and the Sanken CS-1. The 897 is in competition with lower-end mic's.

AT's "8" series (897, 835, etc) are considered ENG-class mic's. Their "4" series (like the 4073) are their top-of-the-line professional series.

From an extremely close distance, they'll sound about the same. But get some distance, or use it outdoors, etc., and the 4073 will prove to be quite superior.

You should probably be asking these questions over in the "Now Hear This" forum, you might get a much wider range of responses from perhaps more knowledgeable audio specialists.

I bought an AT897 and have to say that I wish I coulda saved up a few more bucks and gotten something better...

Don't get me wrong, the mic has performed flawlessly, but to my ears it doesn't sound quite as good as the venerable Senn ME66.

Mostly it's that of all the accessories I own, some which see very little use, the shotty is used as much as the DVX. It's all about saving the money on the less important things, which the mic is not... Personally I wished I'd gone with the 4073a.